Around 160 inmates escaped from a drug rehabilitation center in Da Nang on Saturday morning after overpowering the wardens and breaking down the gate.

Officials at the Educational and Vocational Center 05-06 in Hoa Vang District said the mass breakout was incited by four inmates who had attempted to escape from the center on Tuesday but failed.

The breakout, reportedly the biggest ever at the center, started at around 7 a.m. Many escapees then tried to hide themselves in a mountain nearby while others fled into local houses and sugarcane fields or took boats across the Cu De River.

The center immediately reported the case to Da Nang city police who then launched a manhunt. 113 escapees have been found as of Sunday morning.

Nguyen Dinh Chinh, deputy police chief in Da Nang, told news website VnExpress that the rehab center is only an educational institution, not a prison.

The escapees have been brought back to the center and will be educated properly, he said.

There are around 400 inmates at the center, up from 270 a year ago. The center has 10 police officers acting as wardens.